Environmental Sciences and Policy

The Masters of Science in Environmental Science and Policy is a springboard to leadership for environmental professionals. The program gives students a powerful understanding of where the sciences overlap and inform policy while providing insight into how policy is implemented and affects environmental outcomes. The program was designed by academic leaders in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins, in conjunction with experts in applied science at regional and federal institutes and agencies. The focus is on studying the environmental effects of current use on the creation, updating, regulating, communicating and enforcing of environmental policy.

Quick Stats

Course Locations

Washington D.C.; Online

Available 100% Online

*No (requires one onsite class)

Entry Terms

Fall, Spring or Summer semester

Degree Requirements

10 courses

The core curriculum provides the strong foundation of fundamental environmental science and policy required to work at the forefront of the field. A broad range of electives provide curricular flexibility to allow students to tailor their academic experience to suit personal needs and interests. The program supports professional growth opportunities for experienced environmental professionals. It is also appropriate for career changers or those new to the environmental workforce with optional pre-requisite courses providing an entry path for students with limited previous science coursework.

The Johns Hopkins MS in Environmental Science and Policy program faculty include distinguished instructors with valuable experience in the academic, public and corporate sectors. The opportunity to work with faculty experienced at the highest levels of environmental science and policy provides students a valuable mix of theory and practice always focused on how students can make positive changes in their careers and the world we share. In addition, our students themselves bring a broad range of expertise and experience to our academic community and are an important part of a Hopkins education.

ESP students tailor their own course of study and can pursue any of the following areas, or mix and match.

Formal Concentration in the following areas:

Environmental Monitoring and Analysis

Focuses on identifying, assessing, monitoring and quantifying environmental problems as well as progress toward fixing these problems. The concentration enables you to work on various topics with a focus on measurement and analytical techniques.

Ecological Management

Focuses on the management of natural resources within an ecological context. It enables you to understand particular ecosystems as well as broader issues within the ecological sciences applicable to various systems.

Environmental Management

Focuses on finding balances among economic, environmental, and social interest. The field of study serves business leaders, who must consider environmental impacts of their decisions and must develop competitive advantage within an ecologically constrained world. The concentration is also important to environmental leaders who need business skills to keep agencies and non-profits afloat and who need to include economic issues in their proposed solutions to environmental problems.

Environmental Planning

Focuses on implementing solutions to environmental problems in concrete situations. Environmental planning examines the interaction of the built environment and the natural environment in order to reduce impacts and restore quality of both the natural environment and human settlements.

Or students may focus on Informal Concentrations or Tracks in the following areas:

Sustainability Science

This track in the ESP program has a global focus and is designed to train students to analyze and explain local, national, and global efforts at sustainability using a multidisciplinary approach. It enables students to explain how natural, economic, and social systems interact to foster or prevent constrain sustainability. The track will enable students to evaluate sustainability in terms of policy and legal frameworks, environmental institutions, ecological systems, property rights, food and energy security, and culture.

Energy and Climate

This track will provide students an opportunity to develop a breadth of knowledge in energy and environmental issues to augment their deep disciplinary skills to tackle the science, socioeconomic and cultural aspect of climate change. It can act as a platform for students that desire an environmentally based background that understands how the energy sector-whether oil and gas, renewables or utilities contend with the issues surrounding climate change.